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WKU Home -> News -> Release
 “There is amazing and very important work going on in this facility and it plays right into what we’re trying to accomplish from a national standpoint,” Bill Wehrum of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday during the grand opening of ICSET’s new facility at WKU’s Center for Research and Development. Dr. Wei-Ping Pan and his research team at ICSET are working on numerous projects that would reduce mercury emissions at coal-fired power plants, provide alternatives to oil and gas, make coal combustion more efficient and more environmentally friendly, reduce energy costs and use animal waste as a fuel source. Wehrum, who is responsible for the EPA’s clean air programs, said ICSET’s work on mercury emissions is helping coal-fired power plants meet clean air regulations, which will result in significant improvements in public health and help secure the nation’s energy future by maintaining fuel diversity in power generation. “The work with fluidized bed combustion technology, the work with mercury analytical capability and the work with mercury reduction technology, all of that is what we’re trying to accomplish with the Clean Air Mercury Rule,” Wehrum said. ICSET’s new coal combustion tower as well as mercury monitoring and other state-of-the-art equipment was on display during Thursday’s event. “We realize that we never could have achieved this without the support of U.S. Sen. McConnell, Gov. Fletcher, companies, universities and other laboratories that we have worked with over the past 20 years,” Dr. Pan said. WKU used a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to establish an Environmental Control Technology Laboratory and build a circulating fluidized bed combustion system. The grant was made through the Combustion Technology University Alliance, a program at the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Pittsburgh. WKU is among 20 universities and 15 companies that make up CTUA. Sen. Mitch McConnell was instrumental in obtaining congressional funding to establish CTUA, an applied research program to help coal-fired power plants deal with current problems of operation and help develop strategies to meet environmental requirements. “Sen. McConnell has been proud of his partnership with Western Kentucky University and what the institution is doing to move the state forward,” said Scott Raab, who represented Sen. McConnell at Thursday’s event. Raab said ICSET is a good example of what targeted federal funding has done for WKU by improving the quality of education, solving pressing problems that face communities and driving the region’s economy. “Coal, as we know in Kentucky, keeps our homes warm, our communities’ streets lit and our economy growing. Kentucky’s relatively low power rates are one of the most important assets it has in attracting new companies to the Commonwealth,” he said. WKU President Gary Ransdell said the research by Dr. Pan and ICSET is a classic partnership of state government, federal government, WKU and the private sector. “This is an important moment for us to be able to dedicate this facility,” he said. Clean coal research is another example of how WKU is evolving the meet the needs of the region by driving the economy and by solving problems to improve the quality of life for residents, Dr. Ransdell said. “This may be the best example of a university doing something in an innovative manner to create labs that will provide technology transfer and that will provide commercialization opportunities that will cause the economy of this region to be progressive and to aggressively pursue a higher quality of life because of the science that takes place here.” ICSET was formed in 2004 by combining the Thermal Analysis Laboratory, established in 1986; Combustion Laboratory, established in 1993; and Mercury Emissions and Control Laboratory, established in 2001. In addition to the new combustion tower, ICSET has renovated 13,500 square feet at the Center for Research and Development and plans to renovate 14,000 square feet to expand the Thermal Analysis lab and build a 6,000 square foot facility to house the East Kentucky Power Cooperative/Warren Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation Gasification Unit, Dr. Pan said. “With the additional 20,000 square feet, the new facility will increase the capability of service to industry both regionally and nationally that require accurate and fast analysis for manufacturing, quality control and public health purposes,” he said. ICSET is one of five laboratories in North America capable of conducting Continuous Emission Monitoring and the Ontario-Hydro Method for mercury emissions in power plants. In the past three years, ICSET has helped more than 90 coal-fired power units to establish their mercury baseline levels. The Combustion Lab has 15 years of experience burning high-sulfur and high-chlorine coal, municipal waste and other fuels. The North American Thermal Analysis Society ranked ICSET as the best thermal analysis laboratory in the United States, Dr. Pan said. During the ceremony, Commerce Secretary George Ward announced a collaboration to advance the cause of clean coal research in Kentucky and presented $352,999 from the Kentucky Office of Energy Policy to Dr. Pan and representatives from East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Owensboro Municipal Utilities, Tennessee Valley Authority, Electric Power Research Institute and Electric Energy Inc. Ward said ICSET’s research fits the three basic principles of Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s state energy strategy to maintain Kentucky’s low cost energy, responsibly develop Kentucky’s energy resources and maintain Kentucky’s commitment to environmental quality. The partnership will improve research and maintain Kentucky’s leadership in low cost electricity, Ward said. “East Kentucky Power Cooperative is pleased to join with others in helping to continue the important clean-coal research being performed at WKU,” said Roy Palk, president and CEO of EKPC. “These new technologies are helping to assure that EKPC can continue to lower its emissions while also utilizing affordable Kentucky coal.” Owensboro Municipal Utilities is working closely with ICSET to test mercury emissions at its Elmer Smith Station, said Stan Conn, director of power production. “We congratulate you for the vision and the vigor with which you brought this project forward,” he said. Don Bonk, who represented the U.S. Department of Energy, said he was pleased to hear that ICSET is adding the EKPC/WRECC Gasification Unit to its clean coal research. “Western Kentucky is again leading the way in thinking about putting a gasification facility next to its combustion facility,” Bonk said. More information on ICSET’s research projects is available online at http://www.wku.edu/ICSET/home.htm More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu. |
